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THE AWFUL TRUTH | What no one wants to talk about—Climate Instability [ORIGINAL POST DATE 30 MAY 2015]

Dang, I wish everyone would just catch up with me.

19 SEPT 2020 ANNOTATION - An 'orange is the new bleak' apopcalyptic view from the SF Bay Area (8:49 a.m. 9 Sept 2020:

Image - UC Berkeley Campagnile

My focus has always been to deal with the pre-existing, shared values about climate instability and how it affects the Tragedy of the Commons (the atmosphere, oceans, rivers, fish stocks, the office refrigerator, energy or any other shared resource which is not formally regulated); values such as:

  • Employment
  • Security
  • Good Health

Stuff everyone wants, right? Some time ago, I reconciled that the hubris of the humanities, religion is furtive. But one doesn't have to be religious to believe some supreme being wants us to love and care for other people, and that this entity gave this space ship we call 'Earth' to people to care for it and every living thing. Problem is, I don't think (wo)man have been doing a very good job minding the shop, ship.

Sadly, the people most affected by climate instability AKA the 'indifference' of Mother Nature, are people who do not have resources to ADAPT. And sadly, climate scientists, politicos and policy folks fear telling the truth for risk of losing their status. This, however, is not a problem for me, the outermost outlier on the curve, the anomaly on this space ship, I have nothing to lose. The truth is, humanity is in for some SERIOUS and AWFUL SHIT!

Ten years ago, during my post-graduate studies in Utrecht, NL, we studied and modeled all this shit that will be exacerbated by climate instability  i.e. extreme heat waves, reduction in global food stocks, lost of ecosystems and biodiversity, and increasing sea levels, unrest/wars, mass migrations. Ja, I and the Dutch get it, because of their 'painful' history—not to mention, on a day to day basis, their livelihoods' are potentially in peril and at the moicy of Mother Nature and rising waters. The Dutch are pretty miff'd at the USA's slovenly, satiated lifestyles bent on hyper-consumerism. And for the past ten years, I've tried to tell this story, but I'm perceived as a looney. Yeah, well, you know...

I mean, let's look at the science. If we hold the increase in average global temperature to 2 degrees Celsius, it will still require an unprecedented level of global mobilization and coordination for a long time; decades. However, there is no sign of this happening, and unlikely to be plausible anytime soon. It doesn't help that the purchase of plug-in electric vehicles was down and sales of SUVs/trucks are up in the USA. Why? Why...

...because all the politicians want to hear is good news and no one wants to hear about what's really coming down the pipe. They only want to hear that the 2 degree Celsius metric is possible, so they can keep avoiding any near-term aggressive carbon emission cuts. They just can't deal with or comprehend this positive feedback loop of a 'snowball' rolling down a hill. And the only thing that can reverse this is a negative forcing feedback splat on the windshield of Panzer Tank. Wait, Panzer Tanks don't have windshields. Blinded again.

I mean if anyone's been paying attention, for decades (since the 1990s), these 'pundits' have been spewing, "We only have 5-10 years to invoke mitigating measures!" Anyone with common sense knows, a 9 year old child understands, 5-10 years came along a long time ago. Fleh.

I've been saying for over 10 years, if we are to keep the temperature below this threshold, it means carbon emissions must decrease 6%/annum, implying:

  • Humans must change the consumptive behavior and conserve
  • Humans must not violate the laws of thermodynamics

Ok, I'm breaking the bad news. My stance has always been uncomfortable to those who would give me an ear. Pretty sure they think I'm wrong or crazy or both. Yet what's happening is we are on a 4 degree Celsius increase that will be catastrophic. Yup, slow and certain disaster is on the way, but rarely rises above the background noise. Yeah, well you know...

As I say, better to invest in PREPARE. to RESPOND. to ADAPT. to the 'indifference' of Mother Nature. What's great is today, I finally heard another scientist, a climate scientist during an interview today use my PREPARE. RESPOND. ADAPT. operatives.

I'm going to go see MAD MAX Fury Road on Monday. Bring on the pain!

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